5 Menu Creation Tips for 2023
As we move into the new year, let’s use this opportunity to make changes and improve what we’ve got to offer!
There’s a few unspoken rules when it comes to a good menu. Then, there’s a few hacks to make your menu work for you, creating hype with new dishes or frequently changing items to give the ‘FOMO’ feel!
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Promote your most profitable dish.
These will be dishes with low cost ingredients but a nice chunky margin! Highlight it on your menu card, or promote it as a daily deal or ‘chef’s’ special to get more traction on these dishes. -
Manage Menu Size
We’ve all been to that restaurant with a 6 page menu, offering about 10 different cuisines. RED FLAG! There’s no way your chef (no matter how talented they are) can do all these dishes at a high level, nor can the ingredients and prep for all these dishes be fresh… Less is more! Limit to one cuisine, on one page and choose the dishes you do best. Cut out the rest, go for quality! -
Have a logical menu flow.
Starters come first, then mains, then desserts, drinks all together, extras and sides all together. Don’t deviate from the norm here, or it’ll make it too difficult for customers to choose and navigate through your menu. -
Keep it fresh!
Try and update your menu every season to reflect the weather, ingredients available locally and what you think would work. Looking at sales, you can weed out the poor performing dishes plus this gives an excellent opportunity to get new content for your socials/website. -
Have a clear design and revamp it with the changing season.
If you need to get your menu reprinted due to changes in dishes, use this as an opportunity to also revamp the design and layout. Keep it clear, easy to read (think about visually impaired customers) - especially if your eatery is quite dark, avoid using colours that don’t contrast clearly. There are lots of free tools today like Canva to help design an awesome menu. I’m also a sucker for a good GSM, weirdly, I do believe I’m not the only one and that a nice heavy paper weight will signify to the customer that the food will reflect the quality of the menu!
